Search

In the search bar above (see illustration below) you can
compose a search operation by entering one or more search terms.

Above the search field there are three drop-down menus with which you
can modify your search operation. Once you have entered your search
operation, click on the search button.
The search results are then displayed on the screen.

Extensive search
for information about modifying and refining search operations.

Special search
keys for information regarding search keys with which you can search by
authors, publications, etc.

1. Simple search

The search bar is the point from which you coordinate your search
activities. You can use the search bar to:

Enter search terms;

Perform search operations;

Change standard search options to suit your needs.

To search bibliographical data, you must enter a search operation in
the horizontal search field, next to the search button.
A search operation consists of a search term or a combination of search terms.
A search term is a sequence of characters without spaces (you cannot use
the characters &, |, ~, (), / unless they are preceded by a backslash,
\. For example:
ups \& downs).

For example:
The search engine
regards 'bookplates' as one
search term, while 'book plates' is regarded as two search terms.
Exception: the author's complete name is regarded as one search term. For
example:
bakker, bas de.

If you want to search for a specific phrase, you must use quotation
marks, for example:
"fourth symphony".

The
search engine is not case sensitive. Your can use
either upper or lower case letters or you can mix capital and small
letters. This has no influence on the results of your search operation.

Once you have entered a search operation, click on the search
button. To interrupt a search operation, use your web browser's standard
button.

1.1 Drop-down menus

Above the search field you will see a number of drop-down menus in the
search bar with which you can modify a search operation. The options in
the menus allow you to further refine your search in the database.

Menu 1

In the first menu you can select one of three search methods:

Search (and);
The standard selection is the search method AND. A
search operation of two or more search terms shows the titles that
contain all the search terms entered. For example:
einstein AND gravity
searches for all titles that contain both einstein and gravity.

Search (or);
In the menu you can also select the OR search method. A
search operation with two or more search terms shows all titles
that contain at least one of the search terms. For example:
einstein OR gravity
searches for all titles that contain either einstein or gravity or
both.

Browse;
With the selection Browse you can scan the index
for the search terms you have entered.

Menu 3

With the third menu you can sort the results of your search
operation. You can sort by:

year of publication.

relevance.

By default titles are sorted by year of publication (JVU). The
most recent publications are then displayed first.

You can also sort publications by relevance. This means they are
displayed in sequence of importance. Titles that are most to the
point are displayed first. What determines that one title is more
relevant than another title? The search engine analyses the
contents of the title using a combination of the following factors:

Frequency: the number of times a search term appears in a title.

Compactness: the relative length of the titles found.

Reverse work frequency: terms that seldom appear in the
entire database weigh more heavily.